Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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17. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his meeting with the US Congressional delegation that visited Ireland. [19963/19]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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On 16 April last, I met with a delegation of nine from the US House of Representatives, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

We had a broad-ranging discussion covering Brexit and Northern Ireland, US Immigration Reform and Ireland-US bilateral relations.

Speaker Pelosi, Congressman Neal and the other members of the delegation were unwavering in their support for peace in Northern Ireland, and emphasised their view that Brexit should not impact on the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement.

I thanked the delegation for their continuing support of Irish immigration priorities including the E3 Visa Bill, which has recently been reintroduced into the US Congress and mentioned also the need to find a solution for the undocumented Irish in the US.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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20. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent discussions with the British Prime Minister regarding Northern Ireland. [19964/19]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I spoke briefly with Prime Minister May most recently on 15 May when we attended the Christchurch Call to Action meeting in Paris. Whilst we did not have a substantive meeting on that occasion, we recalled our prior meeting on 24 April when we both attended the funeral of Ms Lyra McKee, in St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast.

In coming together with other political leaders we paid tribute to Lyra McKee and gave expression to the clear will and determination of all of the people of these islands to reject violence and to support peace and a better future for everyone in Northern Ireland.

At that time Prime Minister May and I agreed to initiate a new round of political talks, involving all the main political parties in Northern Ireland, together with the UK and Irish Governments and we issued a joint statement to this effect on 26 April. The aim of these talks is to re-establish to full operation the democratic institutions of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement - the NI Executive, Assembly and North-South Ministerial Council.

This talks process started on 7 May in Stormont, led by Tánaiste Simon Coveney TD, and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Karen Bradley. As Taoiseach and Prime Minister, we have agreed to review progress at the end of May.The talks are now in their third week and I welcome the constructive engagement by all parties.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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25. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent meeting with EU leaders. [20536/19]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I attended an informal meeting of EU Heads of State and Government in Sibiu, Romania on 9 May.

We had an initial exchange of views on our strategic priorities for the years ahead. We adopted a Declaration outlining 10 basic commitments which will guide our deliberations on the EU Strategic Agenda for the next five years, which we hope to adopt at the European Council meeting in June.

My remarks at the informal summit were based on Ireland’s National Statement on the European Union, which was published on 17 April, and discussed in the Dáil the following day.

I outlined our objectives and priorities for the years ahead, and noted that working to ensure a close, comprehensive and ambitious future partnership with the UK continues to be a top priority.

I spoke informally with many of my EU counterparts in the margins of the meeting in Sibiu.

I also had a bilateral meeting with the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, in the Hague on 8 May, the day before the meeting in Sibiu.